Friendly Competitions
by ZeldaStrife
Summary: Vignette. A simple snow day under Mirkwood’s trees with friends… Horse races, snowball fights… Just a typical snow day in Mirkwood with a certain elf and ranger!


_**Friendly Competitions**_

**By:** Lady Alatariel

**Rating:** G

**Feedback:** Yes, please! Be aware, however, that all flames will be used to toast marshmallows and to fry up orcs because orcs are stupid.

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters, names, places (i.e. Legolas, Aragorn, Elladan, Elrohir, Thranduil, Mirkwood, Rivendell etc.) belong to Tolkien and New Line Cinema and whoever else owns them because sadly it is not I. :pouts:

**Additional Disclaimer:** Any other characters not recognizable (i.e. Raniean, Trelan, Elrynd etc.) belong to Cassia & Siobhan, the authors of _The Mellon Chronicles_. (www.aragorn-legolas. No, not as of right now… Maybe in the future, but I honestly don't know.

**Summary:** Vignette. A simple snow day under Mirkwood's trees with friends… Horse races, snowball fights… Just a typical snow day in Mirkwood with a certain elf and ranger!

**Additional Notes:** If you follow Cassia & Sio's stories as I do, then you know how I stand on Aragorn's relationship with the twins: brothers. (Of course, if you're reading this on their site, then this whole note was completely pointless to you!)

Also, it should be known that I know almost _nothing_ of horses except that they are just about the coolest creatures God ever placed on this good Earth! If you see any spelling or misnaming of types of horses, please forgive me and take the story for what it is. I did as much research as time allowed me to do on the subject.

And, if you've already gotten, like, TWO author alerts for this that's because kept on screwin' up my beautiful layout. Grrrrr……. Please ignore them.

And, lastly, this story is dedicated to my best friend and _gwathel_, Laithwen. Love you _so_ much, sworn sister! Thanks for beta-ing this!

Okay, enough blabbering. On with the insanity!

**Friendly Competitions**

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Aragorn slowly opened his eyes and stretched out while in his bed. He smiled softly as he inhaled the fresh air of morning. He laid in his bed a few more moments before slowly sitting up, keeping the covers over his legs, up to his waist.

It was a chilly early February morning in Mirkwood. Aragorn was spending the winter with is best friend, Legolas, and had been visiting since late November. His brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, were staying on as well, although they had not journeyed from Rivendell until mid-December. Since the human had become right before the official starting of winter, he had been present for Mirkwood's winter festival. Although the celebration had been in the first week of December, and it had been extremely cold as of late, it had yet to snow in Mirkwood's forests.

Aragorn pushed the blankets off his legs and stood out of his bed, stretching, the cold wooden floor of the room touching his bare feet and waking him up even more. As he passed the desk chair next to his bed, he grabbed his bathrobe and walked towards the window. The drapes were drawn over the opening, not allowing the sun to wake him at dawn. Pulling them back, he was greeted with a wonderful surprise and gasped.

A thick blanket of fluffy white snow enveloped everything, making Mirkwood look like a winter wonderland out of a fairy tale instead of the dark and ominous forest that it usually was. Even if Aragorn was twenty-three years old and considered an adult among his race, his inner-child was alive and well inside, and right now, the inner-eight-year-old living in Aragorn's heart wanted to go outside and be a part of the magic.

He flashed a brilliant grin before turning around. He ran in the washroom that was connected to his room and washed his face before yanking on his tunic over his head, over his sleeping shirt. He pulled on an extra pair of pants as well. Aragorn also adorned an extra jerkin and his leather overcoat that he wore all the time. Even if most of his friends and relations were elves, he was not. Having on all his attire, Aragorn pulled the door open—and nearly ran smack into Legolas. Apparently, the elf prince had just been about to wake the human up himself.

"Oh, good, you're up," Legolas said with a smile. "I was beginning to wonder if it would still be morning and not afternoon when you woke up, mellon nin."

Disregarding his friend's tease about his sleeping habits, Aragorn said excitedly, "Did you see the snow outside?"

"Yes, I did," the elf replied, eliciting a small smile and folding his arms across his chest. "And I suppose you want to go out in it after breakfast?"

Legolas could clearly see the twinkle that was Estel gleaming out of his friend's eyes. The young ranger obviously wanted to 'go outside and play', as the little ones often said. _Even if he **is** over twenty years old, he still can't let go of the child inside,_ Legolas humoured himself.

"Of_ course_ he wants to go outside, Legolas!"

"The question is, who will get beaten _again _in a snowball fight?"

Legolas turned around and Aragorn peered his head out of the doorframe. The human's brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, were also coming down the hall, looking like they were ready to go outside as well.

"I think, Elrohir," Aragorn said, looking both twins in the eyes, "that it is _you_ who will get beaten! After we eat, me and Legolas versus the two of you! C'mon, what do you say?"

Elladan turned to his younger twin. "I'd say that was a challenge, would you not agree?"

"Oh, yes. I'd say it was," Elrohir said cunningly. "And we gladly accept!"

Aragorn stepped out into the hallway next to Legolas and held out his hand to Elrohir, Legolas doing the same to Elladan.

"This means war," the prince said in a playful lethal tone.

"You're only the prince! You can't declare war!" Elladan joked.

The prince scoffed. "In this case, I can!"

After letting go of each other's hands, they all went downstairs to eat, both teams whispering strategies to one another. This would prove to be interesting…

After breakfast, Aragorn, Legolas, Elladan and Elrohir went outside. Before their 'Snowball War," as it had been called during the morning meal, they were going to have a tag-team horserace: Aragorn and Legolas versus Elladan and Elrohir.

The elves and human were just donning their gloves when they heard two familiar and friendly voices.

"Legolas, isn't this snow beautiful?"

"I don't think I've ever seen this much snow!"

Legolas turned from his horse, Aragorn looked up from lacing his boots and the twins poked their heads out from the storage shed inside the stable.

"Raniean, Trelan!" Legolas smiled brightly when he saw his two childhood friends. "What are you two doing here? I thought you were still guarding the border, fending off the orcs."

The two elves walked towards their friend. "There was no activity the whole three weeks we were out there. It's too cold for orcs to attack, besides. And it's nice to see you, too, Legolas!" Raniean said, mock-teasing.

The prince clasped forearms with each of them, saying, "You know I'm always happy to see you."

"We know," Trelan said. "We just like giving you a hard time about it!" He smiled innocently.

Legolas rolled his eyes. "Thanks so much."

"Anytime, Your Highness," Raniean said, bowing his head with a grin.

"So," Trelan sighed, walking towards where the twins were now by their horses, "what are you four up to _this _time?"

"Horse racing," Aragorn replied, straightening up and checking his boots. "Tag-team racing."

"Want to join us?" Elladan offered. "You're more than welcome to."

"Sure!" the two elves took them up on their offer. Raniean and Trelan were always up for a little competition between friends. "Let us go prepare our horses and we'll meet you…?" Trelan held up hi hands in question.

"In front of the palace gates," Aragorn chipped in, preparing to mount his horse, a deep brown-coloured mare. "In about five minutes or so." He adjusted the saddle one last time before climbing atop the horse.

"Great, we'll be there," Raniean said as he and Trelan dashed off to the neighbouring stable.

"I take it they'll be a team all by themselves?" Elladan asked, guiding his stallion next to Legolas, who was sitting on his horse's back, ready to go.

"Yes," the prince nodded. "It's good that we have even numbers now. When I was young, Ran, Trey and I would race, but we were never able to do tag-team because there were three of us."

Elrohir rode next to Legolas and Aragorn as they made their way to the palace gates, saying to Legolas as they went, "Well, you might have to pick up for Estel's slack, Legolas. He's a bit slow, you know."

Aragorn didn't miss the twinkle in his brother's eye and knew he was jesting, but he played up the old argument anyway. "Elrohir, you _know_ I could beat you anytime, anywhere!"

"Do you remember, a few years ago, when the three of us had that horserace around Rivendell, Estel?" Elladan suddenly said, looking up into the sky, reminiscing. "It was before you met Legolas."

Legolas saw his human friend's eyes widen. Obviously, that situation had been quite an episode. Eager for the tale, he asked the eldest twin, "What happened?"

Ignoring his little brother's protests, Elladan continued his account: "Well, Estel was around sixteen, I guess, and had quite a big head at the time when it came to horseracing, although he had never competed against El and me. So, he challenged us. The racetrack was simple: one lap around the main house, passing the Bruinen only once. At the start of the race, Estel proved himself a fair rider—I'll give you that, little brother. He had gained and held the lead for some time… up until we hit the River," Elladan paused and chuckled softly. "Apparently, Estel hadn't gotten his horse used to water and Fairiel, his mare at the time, skidded to a halt, tossing Estel up and out of the saddle and right into the Bruinen! El and I saw the whole thing! Thankfully, he landed in the deepest part of the River and wasn't hurt too badly—only his pride was damaged!"

"Yes, only his pride," Elrohir smiled fondly. "We were laughing so hard when we helped him up that El and I could hardly stand up ourselves!" With that both twins burst into laughing.

Aragorn glared at his brothers with a look that would have sent any vile creature scurrying away for cover. "Well, Ada wasn't too pleased with you two," he pointed out. "You couldn't keep your laughter bottled up enough when we explained everything to him."

Elrohir stopped laughing enough to answer, "Be that as it may, that little accident was entirely _your_ fault! You even told Ada that!"

"That is true," the human admitted, "but he was still plenty angry at you two for laughing while he was tending to me instead of helping."

Elladan's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "What are you talking about, Estel! You weren't that badly hurt!"

Aragorn stopped his horse next to Elladan's and said forcefully, "I had a broken wrist and had to wear a splint for six weeks, Elladan! You call that not badly hurt!"

This was starting to break into a real argument. Legolas and Elrohir quickly tried to stifle the fire that had sparked between Elladan and Estel.

"What's past is past," Elrohir interjected, coming between the quarreling siblings.

"Yes, what's the use of arguing over something that happened years past?" Legolas reasoned. "Besides, we're almost to the gates, there's Ran and Trey. Come on!"

Ahead of them, waiting patiently at the palace gates, were Ran and Trey, on their mounts.

As Aragorn, Legolas and the twins approached, Trelan asked, "So, what's the plan?"

"The course is simple enough," Legolas said with a sly smile, "just a little trip to Lant Gerin and back…"

Raniean and Trelan exchanged nervous glances. Even though the road was short, only four minutes or so on horseback, the road was narrow and difficult to navigate. All racers knew where the glen was located so directions were not a problem. Nevertheless it was a challenging road to travel.

…But then again, Raniean and Trelan were always ready for a challenge!

Wiping the anxious look off his face, Raniean scoffed, "That's easy enough!"

Continuing the instructions, Legolas said, "Like I said before, we're going to Lant Gerin; take any route you want. One person will go and come back to the starting point. And then their partner will race to Lant Gerin. Whoever comes back first from the second lap, their team wins. Any questions?"

When greeted with the negative, Legolas nodded and went back over to Aragorn and whispered something into his partner's ear. Raniean also turned to Trelan and said softly, "I'll race the first lap, all right?" Adding under his breath, he said, "And garner us a strong lead!" Trelan stifled a laugh and nodded encouragingly.

"Are we ready?" Elrohir asked a moment latter after talking over strategies with his twin and partner.

"Yes!" came the replies of those who would perform the first leg of the race: Legolas, Elrohir and Raniean. Aragorn, Elladan and Trelan were in the second round.

"Wait," Aragorn said suddenly, "what are we going to use for a finish line?"

Everyone paused and looked around. At Trelan's voice everyone looked up, "We can use this log. Help me move it."

Raniean, Legolas and Elrohir dismounted and helped their friend to move the log in place.

"So that's the starting point, just in front of it," Elrohir said.

"And you have to jump over it in order to finish your lap," Legolas put in.

"Right. So, racers…" Aragorn said as he stepped to one end of the log. "Take your marks…" Legolas, Elrohir and Raniean guided their horses' back-hooves to the base of the log behind them, so they were just touching. "Get ready…" the ranger held up his hand… "GO!"

No sooner had Aragorn shouted the word and dropped his hand, the elves were off, heading straight for the heart of the forest. The spectators saw their teammates for no more than thirty seconds before the trees became too thick.

All voices were drawn out from Legolas' hearing, except for perhaps Aragorn's whoop when he gained the lead. At that point, however, the prince had just entered into the foliage and could no longer be seen by any of the onlookers, man or elf alike. He looked behind him, chancing a glance at his competitors. Both Raniean and Elrohir were close on his heels, the wood-elf closer than the Noldo. Legolas turned back around and continued guiding his horse. This was going to be a challenge. But that was all right with him: Legolas enjoyed challenges!

Racing dirty or hard, as humans sometimes said, was not a problem amongst elves. However, elves were known to be… tricky when it came to competitions. So it was no wonder to Legolas, when he looked back again, that he saw Raniean gone. He must have veered off the initial course and taken a route that he alone knew. But Elrohir was gaining on him. Legolas urged Avornwen on, telling her in elvish to be swift.

Without preamble, another horse and rider cut right in front of Legolas, causing him to pull back, which, in turn, caused Elrohir to do the same. Legolas looked at the rider and immediately recognized him: Raniean! How had he been able to do that! But he couldn't dwell on the matter for long… if he wanted to win the race.

Raniean shouted triumphantly, "Victory is mine!"

"I think not!" both Legolas and Elrohir called back. Legolas looked to his left and caught the twin's eye. An alliance, they formed a small alliance to get in front of Raniean… for the time being. Once they were ahead, the alliance they held would automatically crumble. Immediately, Legolas and Elrohir flanked in opposite directions, veering off the path.

Without knowing Legolas and Elrohir had formed a pact, it came as a slight shock to Raniean when he looked back and saw no one. He didn't think his friends had been attacked—he would've been aware and at least seen their attackers and heard the scuffle. Not knowing really what else to do, the wood-elf continued. The clearing of Lant Gerin was now in view, a little more than a hundred yards ahead. That was when it was Raniean's turn to rear back his horse in haste. Not one, but two riders had cut him off: Legolas and Elrohir.

Their immediate goal reached, Legolas and Elrohir each competed for first place, ignoring Raniean. The road was too narrow for both their horse to be next to each other, sharing the road. Knowing he needed a quick advantage, Legolas forced Avornwen right in the center of the path, having almost no concern whatsoever for Raniean or Elrohir. Neither was hurt by this maneuver, but both were forced to yield to Legolas, who then gained the lead.

In the time that all that had taken place, the three racers had reached Lant Gerin. Each of them circled the glade's small perimeter and then started racing back on the road whence they came, with the prince still in the lead.

"Come one, Ran!" Legolas chided back. "You too, Elrohir! I thought this was going to be a challenge!"

Raniean growled under his breath and Elrohir repressed a smart aleck remark. The two of them hadn't played all their cards as of yet. But once they saw what happened, both gasped softly.

When Legolas had turned back around from his taunt, a low-hanging branch had caught him, running a gash alongside his forehead and right temple. He cried out slightly in pain and clapped a hand to his injury. He knew Elrohir and Raniean saw what had happened and hollered back to them, "I'm fine! Keep racing!"

"If Estel sees that cut," Elrohir gasped out, yelling as loudly as he could, "he won't want to race!"

Knowing what the twin meant, that Aragorn would want to stay behind and make sure his friend was all right, he replied, "Well, then I shan't let him see it." He re-gripped the reins of his horse with a bloody hand.

And so they raced on, Elrohir and Raniean racing hard to catch up to Legolas. They knew how the prince would feel if they didn't continue on as if nothing had happened. They didn't want their friend to feel cheated. Besides it wasn't like Elrohir and Raniean could actually catch up with him anyways: Legolas was too good a rider and he knew these woods better than anyone else, even Raniean and especially Elrohir.

Five minutes later, the three racers burst out from the forest, Legolas still in the lead. He saw Aragorn jump up and shout when he saw who was in the lead. The three spectators were watching and waiting from either side of the log, waiting for their teammate to jump it and allow them to begin the final leg of the race.

Aragorn was muttering under his breath, "Come on, Legolas, come on…!" When he saw his friend burst out, he leaned over to Elladan and said childishly, "Ha! Legolas is in the lead!"

"Yes, but look who's right behind him," he replied with a devilish grin, pointing over to the rider in the second position.

Aragorn snapped his head back. Curses! Both Elrohir and Raniean were right behind him. _Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me…_ he thought.

Aragorn, Trelan and Elladan were waiting on either side of the finishing mark, waiting for the signal to go. To Aragorn's relief, it was Legolas who jumped over the log first, motioning the ranger to start.

Aragorn didn't hesitate as Raniean and Elrohir jumped over right after the prince. He had but five seconds ahead of them at best, but it was enough to garner him a small yet decent lead.

Back at the starting point, once the other racers were out of sight, Legolas began bandaging up his cut. He winced and drew his breath in sharply as Elrohir applied a salve to the wound, causing it to sting.

"Sorry, Legolas," he whispered apologetically.

"It's all right," the prince replied after the Noldo had finished. He held the cloth as Elrohir wrapped it around his head. "It's not your fault. Let's just hope Estel doesn't get hurt."

Elrohir chuckled ruefully. "I wouldn't put it past him."

"I just hope he doesn't break his neck!" Raniean joked, laughing lightly. "Knowing Strider, though, he'll find a way to get hurt."

"Or," Elrohir said as he finished tying off Legolas' bandage, "if he wins against Elladan, he'll get a beating."

All three elves laughed out loud, as they anxiously waited for their companions to return.

Meanwhile, Aragorn was till maintaining a slight lead. But his competitors were hot on his trail, neck and neck. There was no way he could let up—they would surely pass him up and he wasn't about to allow that!

The trip to Lant Gerin was uneventful, save for the remarks and taunts Aragorn yelled back at his brother and the wood-elf. It wasn't until the trip back to the palace that things started to get interesting…

During the course of the race, Elladan had been gaining on Aragorn and now, finally, he was right next to his human brother. The road was dangerously tight and up ahead, the Noldo noted, it was about to get even smaller.

Elladan pressed his horse hard, eventually passing up his brother.

"Eat my snow, Estel!" he hollered back, paying him back for all the human's taunts previously.

Aragorn replied in turn, "But I'm not hungry, Elladan!"

It had started snowing again and the white powder was falling very heavily. Aragorn shook the snow out of his hair and eyes and sighted on his brother up ahead of him. Trelan was still behind him but because Raniean had come in last, the wood-elf was a small distance behind the ranger.

None of the racers saw the weak branch above the path that was overburdened with snow. The slightest touch would tip it.

Elladan was swiftly approaching the old evergreen. That was the halfway mark he had subconsciously remembered. He had it made! There was no way Estel of Trelan could catch up to him now!

Aragorn despite his brother's beliefs, was actually only about two feet behind the twin.

Elladan threw one hand in the air and shouted in triumph, "I am victorious! I win, you lo—!"

A large patch of snow fell on top of Elladan's head, cutting off his so-called victory speech. The sudden force of the snow caused the elf's horse to rear back, tossing her rider to the left side, out of the way of the road, and right into the snow!

Aragorn was about to bust a gut he was laughing so hard and, based on the fits of laughter the ranger heard behind him, Trelan was too.

Within moments, both Aragorn and Trelan passed the fallen elf up. In passing, the human hollered back to his brother, who was still lying in the snow in a state of shock, "How's the snow taste, brother!"

And with that remark, the human and the elf left Elladan in the snow. Both knew he wasn't hurt, at least not physically. He was more embarrassed than anything else. If he had been hurt critically, he would've told them and they would've stopped, race begotten.

Aragorn and Trelan continued riding back to the palace gates, keeping the dramatic chase going.

"Let me see that cut, Legolas," Elrohir said, starting to unwrap the bandage. "It should have started closing up and, at the very least, stopped bleeding."

The healer kept unwinding and unwinding, relieving Legolas of the many cloths. When the cut was exposed, Elrohir smiled. "Oh, good. It's stopped and already started closing up, as it should have."

Legolas brushed his fingers along his forehead, feeling the wound. A puzzled look crossed his face. "Did you do something different? I don't even feel a healing scar." Of course, elves healed very quickly, but even they were susceptible to healing scars, however briefly.

"I used a new medicine that Ada recently discovered," he explained. "It increases healing time for small cuts and abrasions twofold! And, when used on an elf, it practically heals in minutes!"

"Do you thi—! Oh, look!" Raniean gasped suddenly. "Here they come!"

Trelan and Aragorn could just barely be seen coming out of the woods. They were approaching fast and the spectators were soon able to see who was in the lead.

"Go, Aragorn! GO!" Legolas shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. Then, as his teammate drew near, and forgetting all dignity and status, he started jumping up and down.

The prince could hear Raniean's shouts of, "Pass him, Trey! Pass him!" Also heard, just barely and not heeded at the moment, was Elrohir's soft voice saying, "Where's Elladan?"

Aragorn glanced back daringly at Trelan. The ranger was a good distance in from the elf. But Trelan drove his horse harder, stirring up even more snow. Out of the corner of his eye, Aragorn saw Trelan catch up and nearly pass him up.

"Noro lim, Fairiel," the ranger whispered softly. "U-daro." _Ride hard… Don't stop. _

And she didn't stop. If anything she increased her speed, bursting out of the woods and towards the palace gates. Aragorn saw Legolas cheering him on, jumping up and down. He was very close, so very close—

And then he jumped over the log, ahead of Trelan by a mere fraction of a second.

Aragorn and Trelan circled back around, the ranger crying out happily to Legolas, "We won! We won, Legolas, we won!"

Legolas laughed as Aragorn jumped down off Fairiel's back. "I know, mellon nin, I know!"

Aragorn turned back around to face Trelan; Legolas did the same to Raniean. "Good race, my friend! You put up quite a challenge, I must say."

Trelan accepted the hand with a smile. "You put up a challenge as well, Strider. It _was_ a good race!"

"Where is Elladan?"

All four of them turned around to a slightly worried-looking Elrohir. The twin's eyes lighted on Aragorn as the ranger had unsuccessfully stifled his laughter. "Estel…?"

Aragorn glanced back at Trelan and that was all it took. Both burst into fits of laughter at their lack of information.

"What happened, Estel?" Elrohir demanded, playfulness edged his tone. "Where's Elladan?"

Aragorn gasped out between bouts of laughter, "Elladan was—!"

"Elladan is right here."

The elves and human looked across the way, towards the edge of the forest. There, leading his horse by the reins, his clothes dripping and covered with snow, was Elladan. He was walking slowly to the palace gates with a very annoyed and peeved look on his face.

One look at the elf as he drew closer was all it took to send everyone off, laughing hysterically—everyone, that is, except Elladan.

"It's not funny!" he yelled when he reached the group, wringing out his hair.

"I don't even know exactly what happened to you and I think it's hilarious!" Elrohir managed to get out.

Elladan shot his brother a death-glare.

"So what _did_ happen?" Legolas asked, trying to calm his mirth.

Elladan opened his mouth to speak, but wasn't quick enough. Estel answered for him, "A snow patch fell right on top of him and his horse and he fell off!" At the memory of the incident, the human burst into laughing fits again.

"It's not _that_ funny, Estel," Elladan repeated.

"Elladan," Legolas said, wrapping his arm around the twin's shoulders, "don't worry about it. Besides, this is Estel, we're talking about—he laughs at the drop of a hat, remember?"

Aragorn sobered immediately and shot Legolas a look. "Thanks, Legolas."

"Anytime, mellon nin," the elf replied innocently. He walked behind Elladan, to the twin's horse, and offered politely, "Let me take your horse back to the stables… Elladan?"

The prince looked down to see Elladan stooping in the snow, cupping a large amount of the white powder in his hands. The twin looked up at Legolas wickedly, pointing at Estel, who had turned his back to the elves and was tending to Fairiel.

Legolas covered his mouth with his hand to muffle his laughter.

"Oh, Estel…" Elladan said in a saintly voice.

Estel turned to face his brother. "Yes, Ella—!"

A snowball hit him squarely in the face, thrown by Elladan.

Everyone burst out laughing as Estel coolly wiped the snow from his face. Oh, his brother was going to pay for that… While everyone else was busy laughing at his expense, he quickly bent down and prepared a snowball of his own. "Elladan, catch!"

The elf who was the target immediately stopped laughing, as his eyes lighted on the snowball held by his brother's gloved hand. Without much thought, Elladan dropped to his knees, the snowball passing him completely—but hitting Legolas right in the back of the head.

'Cold' was the first word that floated through Legolas' mind. The second was 'Estel', the third: 'revenge'. Without a word and as the group fell silent, the prince gathered snow in his hands and chucked it towards Estel, who also ducked at the last possible second. The snowball repeated the same action as before, this turn hitting Raniean in the face.

Suddenly they all stopped and looked at one another.

"SNOWBALL WAR!" Aragorn cried out.

And with that, it became an endless battlefield of snow flying everywhere.

"Every elf for himself!" Elrohir hollered out so everybody heard.

"What about me!" Aragorn yelled indignantly, hurling a clomp of snow in retaliation at Elrohir.

After shaking the frozen water from his face, he growled impatiently, "Fine! And Estel, too!"

"That's better!" he said, continuing on with the fight, sighting Trelan and throwing a projectile in his direction.

_Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,_

_Which elf shall I hit with a ball of snow?_

_Author's best friend, Laithwen_

After an hour and a half of quite a dramatic snowball fight, the elves and human decided it was time to go inside and warm up. After changing into dry clothes, they had met in the Great Hall. Legolas, Raniean and Trelan were relaxing in fluffy armchairs, while Aragorn, Elladan and Elrohir were sprawled out on a blanket on the floor near the warm fire. Everyone held a mug of hot tea in their hands and a blanket around their shoulders.

Aragorn reclined back, using his hands as a pillow and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply, "That was fun…" he said softly.

"It was," Legolas agreed sleepily, resting his head on his hand and also closing his eyes. The elf laughed softly. "When Elladan came up behind you and stuffed a snowball down the back of your shirt… Priceless."

Elladan smile fondly and nodded. "Yes, that _was_ good."

"Then I got you back when I slammed a snowball right on top of your head!" Aragorn shot back.

"I got so angry at you," Elladan said, grinning. "But you didn't fair so well, either, Legolas." He turned his gaze on the prince, craning his neck up to where Legolas sat.

"Yes, especially when Trelan and I double-teamed on you!" Raniean said suddenly, sitting up to face his friend. "It's a wonder we didn't bury you alive in the snow!" He broke off laughing.

Trelan scoffed playfully. "What fantasy world do _you_ live in, Ran? Strider nailed you right on the back of your head several times!"

Aragorn smile proudly and said, "Yes, I did. And it was great…"

"I still can't believe I tripped over you, Estel," Elrohir admitted, shaking his head in disbelief.

"_That_ was funny!" Legolas said, smiling broadly. "But I suppose we _all_ got the snow handed to us…"

"Your Highness." A slightly sleepy voice called from behind them. "Prince Legolas?"

The prince in question turned around in his chair to see Elrynd, the caretaker, walking towards them. "Is everything all right, Elrynd?"

"Oh, yes," he replied, fighting a yawn. "I was just going to tell you that it is past midnight. You and your father have that meeting with the council, remember, Your Highness?"

Legolas sighed. Such was the price that royalty paid. "Thank you. I had forgotten that. We'll retire soon, Elrynd. Now," he said, fixing the elf in front of him with a playful glare, "you, my friend, look about ready to fall over where you stand. Take your ease. We'll be up shortly."

"Quel undomé, Your Highness," he bowed slightly as he walked off to his quarters.

"Legolas?" Raniean whispered.

"Hm?" he muttered after turning around.

"Strider has fallen asleep," the other elf replied, smiling and pointing at the sleeping ranger on the floor.

Legolas looked as well and smiled softly. _Humans,_ he thought, _always so tired…_ The smile on his face turned to a wicked grin as an idea came to him. Without muttering a word, Legolas stood up, leaving the blanket bundled up in the chair and his tea on the table next to the chair, and silently crouched down to where Aragorn had set down his pack, sword, bow and quiver. He picked up all the items then flashed a mischievous look at the other elves.

"Shall we go to bed now?" the prince whispered innocently.

"Legolas, what are you doing with Estel's things?" Elrohir muttered, his word slightly slurred with sleep, but concern, not to mention curiosity, was etched into his features.

"Hide them so Estel can _never_ find them," he replied as if that were the obvious answer. Then he laughed to himself.

"He'll be angry at you in the morning," Trelan warned half-heartedly.

"Oh, let him be angry," Legolas brushed him off. "A little excitement in the morning is good for a growing human."

Elladan shook his head. "Oh, Legolas…"

Early the next morning, around seven, Legolas attended the meeting with his father and the council members. Several times during the three-hour court, the prince tried unsuccessfully to stifle yawns and to remain attentive. His actions were not lost on Thranduil and, on the way out after the assembly had convened for the day, he stopped his son.

"Legolas," the king said seriously, "why were you so unfocused today?"

Legolas chuckled nervously. "That's a long story, Ada…"

Aragorn woke up in his bed the next morning at around ten o' clock. How he got in his bed and tucked, he did not know. He supposed Elladan and Elrohir carried him. That was the most logical answer so he decided to stick with that story and not worry about it anymore. He got out of bed and sleepily dressed. He pulled back the curtains and smiled. It was still snowing from yesterday, light snow flurries. It looked so beautiful and magical… He just _had_ to be out there again!

Aragorn about-faced and started looking for his pack, sword, bow and quiver. They were nowhere to be found. Then he realized he had placed them in the Great Hall downstairs. He dashed out his bedroom door and down the stairs, on the way, passing the council chamber. He saw Legolas talking with his father, but did not stop to talk since the conversation looked serious.

He walked into the Great Hall and saw his brothers, Raniean and Trelan sitting in the armchairs by the fire.

"Morning, Estel," Elladan said before taking a sip of the tea he held.

"Morning, everyone," he replied distractedly, not seeing his missing items and giving a puzzled look.

"What's the matter, Strider?" Raniean asked while the man looked searchingly about.

Aragorn sighed. "I was going to go out hunting, but I can't find my pack, sword, bow _or_ quiver."

All of the elves snickered. Their actions were well noted and Aragorn eyed them suspiciously. Obviously, they knew something, each and every one of them, and they weren't telling him. The human said slowly, "What…?"

They looked up at one another before Elrohir took it upon himself to inform the ranger of what the prince had done…

"I'm sorry, Ada," Legolas apologized. "It won't happen again."

"It had better not, Legolas," Thranduil said. "As I've said before, council meetings are important. If, someday, you should be called upon to take the throne and rule Mirkwood, you need to be ready."

"I will be, Ada."

"Then I expect you to be a little more responsible," the king finished.

"Yes, Ada," the prince replied as he turned around to meet up with the twins and Raniean and Trelan in the Great Hall.

"LEGOLAS!"

The elf in question winced slightly and cringed when he heard Aragorn scream his name. He looked at the doorway leading to the Hall and saw the ranger, looking quite livid.

"Where are my things!" he raged. "I _know_ you have them! Where are they!"

It was too early in the morning for Aragorn to be at the brunt end a practical joke.

"Ran! Trey! You _promised_ you wouldn't tell!" Legolas whined, knowing full well they could hear him.

"Sorry, Your Highness! Strider is very persuasive!" Trelan said in a not-so-sorry voice.

Legolas sighed under his breath. "If you want to know, mellon nin," he taunted in a sing-song voice, "you'll have to catch me!"

Elladan and Elrohir stepped up behind their brother, the eldest saying playfully, "Oh, you can catch _him_, Estel."

"He _is_ a Silvan elf, after all," Elrohir chided.

"You're right." And with that, Aragorn lunged at Legolas, who turned around and ran right past his father. "Sorry, Ada! I'll start being more responsible _tomorrow!_"

"Get back here, you Silvan elf!" Aragorn yelled as he chased Legolas down the corridor and then outside in the snow.

Raniean and Trelan stepped up behind their liege. "I don't think he'll _ever_ be responsible, Your Majesty." Raniean sighed.

"And our brother isn't helping matters," Elladan added.

Thranduil sighed and spoke for them all. "Those two are a handful. Ilúvatar save us…"

_Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings_

_have trouble remembering how to fly._

_Unknown_

The End 

Wow, I had a lot of fun writing that story. I actually thought up the gist of it on my way down to Biology class while it was snowing quite heavily. I thought to myself: _Aragorn + Legolas + Twins + Ran & Trey + snow day STORY!_ And there you have it! I hope you guys enjoyed this little vignette. It took me nearly a month to write. (That's because I write slow.)

Namarie, mellyn nin! Mela lle!


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